The Loser Point Has Got To Go
Entry posted by Mozy
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<img src="http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2009/11/nov1709_chbsmall_smallt.jpg" class="imageFloatLeftFramed">When looking at the standings this season thus far, there's one thing that's become overwhelming and that's the fact that more teams are finding a way to force overtime and get an extra point out of a loss. When you look at the current standings the Canucks sit in 11th and every single team ahead of them has benefited from the extra point awarded to a team that makes it to overtime. In fact the Canucks are the only team in the Western Conference without a loser point, and the only other team in the league that doesn't have a loser point is the Penguins.
When you look at the standings in the West right now they are as follows:
SJS - 19-6-4 -- 42 points
CHI - 17-6-3 -- 37 points
CGY - 17-6-3 -- 37 points
COL - 15-8-5 -- 35 points
LAK - 16-10-2 -- 35 points
NSH - 15-10-1 -- 31 points
PHX - 15-11-1 -- 31 points
CBJ - 13-9-5 -- 31 points
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DAL - 12-8-7 -- 31 points
DET - 13-9-4 -- 30 points
VAN - 14-12-0 -- 28 points
STL - 10-10-5 -- 25 points
ANA - 10-12-4 -- 24 points
EDM - 10-13-4 -- 24 points
MIN - 10-12-3 -- 23 points
In the East:
WSH - 16-5-6 -- 38 points
PIT - 19-9-0 --38 points
BUF - 15-7-2 -- 32 points
NJD - 17-6-1 -- 35 points
ATL - 14-7-3 -- 31 points
BOS - 13-8-5 -- 31 points
OTT - 13-8-4 -- 30 points
TBL - 10-7-8 -- 28 points
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PHI - 13-10-1 -- 28 points
NYR - 13-13-1 -- 27 points
NYI - 10-10-7 -- 27 points
MON - 12-13-2 -- 26 points
FLA - 10-12-4 -- 24 points
TOR - 7-12-7 -- 21 points
CAR - 5-17-5 -- 15 points
Now take a look at the East and West after you take away that loser point:
SJS - 19-10 -- 38 points
CHI - 17-9 -- 34 points
CGY - 17-9 -- 34 points
LAK - 16-12 -- 33 points
NSH - 15-11 -- 30 points
PHX - 15-12 -- 30 points
COL - 15-13 -- 30 points
VAN - 14-12 -- 28 points
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CBJ - 13-14 -- 26 points
DAL - 12-15 -- 24 points
DET - 13-13 -- 26 points
MIN - 10-15 -- 20 points
STL - 10-15 -- 20 points
ANA - 10-16 -- 20 points
EDM - 10-17 -- 20 points
East:
PIT - 19-9 --38 points
WSH - 16-11 -- 32 points
BUF - 15-9 -- 30 points
NJD - 17-7 -- 34 points
ATL - 14-10 -- 28 points
PHI - 13-11 -- 27 points
NYR - 13-14 -- 26 points
BOS - 13-13 -- 26 points
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OTT - 13-12 -- 26 points
MON - 12-15 -- 24 points
TBL - 10-15 -- 20 points
NYI - 10-17 -- 20 points
FLA - 10-16 -- 20 points
TOR - 7-19 -- 14 points
CAR - 5-22 -- 10 points
As you can see this changes the playoff implications considerably. Teams like Tampa Bay who have benefited from 8 extra points despite losing the games aren't even in the playoff picture when you recrunch the numbers. In the West it means the difference between the Canucks making a playoff spot and sitting in 11th in the West. You can argue that while the bottom end of the standings change the most that they don't matter, however the bottom end of the standings effect the draft and how teams order in picking players. In certain cases there might be case for argument that it means the difference between home ice advantage come the playoffs, or even the difference between top of the division or not.
You can argue that this is the observation of a fan bitter about his team not being in the playoffs, but at this point it's too early in the season to worry about rankings like in this fashion. It's been overwhelming to see how many teams are taking it to OT and stealing a point night in and night out despite a losing effort. Too many teams sit on a tie game and force OT just to walk away with one point.
Last season on average every team was the fortunate recipient of 9 OT points, the numbers being skewed by the likes of Tampa Bay who benefited from 18 "loser points" and still came 14th in the East. Last year teams averaged 9 loser points (OTLs) last year, (the Canucks had 10) and this year already more than half the league have at least 4 OTL points and we're about a quarter through the season. That means teams are on pace to get about 16 points this season from games they've lost. 16 points is the difference between a lot of things: home ice, playoffs, division title etc.
If the loser point is something that is so instrumental to the league and they can't remove it then they need to do something to change the point structure because the rate at which teams are accumulating loser points is trivializing the value of a 2-point win. The only thing I've come up with is a solution preached before which is 3 points for a regulation win, 2 points for an OT win, and 1 point for an OT loss.
<img src="http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2009/11/nov1709_mozy_small.jpg" class="imageFloatLeftFramed">Richard Loat writes for Canucks Hockey Blog and is a fan of the underdog – first Bryan Allen, then Alex Burrows, and now Jannik Hansen. His passion for the Canucks led to the Canucks Hockey Blog and a lot of #Canucks tweets on his Twitter account.
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